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Mac Pro 5.1 and 6GB/s Drives
- Thread starter lbeck
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Yes.
Check the HDD Compatibility List on Areca's site (ATTO has something like this too), to be sure you select compatible drives (saves you massive headaches due to incompatible drives which will have to be returned unless you can wait for a disk firmware or card revision that may or may not come - usually does, but takes time).
I'm looking at this controller card from areca, http://www.areca.com.tw/products/1880.htm
I wanted to get the 3TB Hitatchi drives but those are not enterprise level. The sheet says "scheduled", I guess that means they are starting to test it out?
I wanted to get the 3TB Hitatchi drives but those are not enterprise level. The sheet says "scheduled", I guess that means they are starting to test it out?
Not sure which model, but the 1880 series is a good card (initialization does seem a bit slow, but once it's done, it is a fast card vs. older models, which weren't slouches by any means).
As per the disks, select something off of the HDD Compatibility List. If it's not listed as Passed, skip it. You'll save your self a world of aggravation if you do. So either wait until they've completed testing on the Hitachi's, or get something else if they're not at the time you purchase your gear.
Oops, I thought I linked to the 1880i, here is the one I want. http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php...c4241b6abc56afd90b825e8a5b8bb99b487060a16010d
I'll get this adapter kit for my bays http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=189
The drives are still up in the air but I'll definitely pick one off their list. Do you see any issues with the above?
I'll get this adapter kit for my bays http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=189
The drives are still up in the air but I'll definitely pick one off their list. Do you see any issues with the above?
None, as long as you order the right kit for your system.
Yes.
The 1880 series is the fastest RAID card out there right now.
You do need a MiniSAS version, as that's the type of connector on the RAID card (SFF-8087 <aka internal MiniSAS> = cable end that plugs into the RAID card; Male end = cable, Female end = card but both are SFF-8087).
Either the MS04 (connects 3x HDD bays to the card) or MS06 (connects 4x HDD bays to the card). I'd recommend going for the MS06.
Does the NewerTech card or any SATA III PCIe card allow for booting from the SSD or drive attached to the card? For instance, I don't think you can boot from PCIe SSD solution-on-card like the OCZ p88. Just wondering. Thanks!
Officially, the 6.0Gb/s eSATA cards such as the newertech are not bootable in a MP.
However, there's one user (siesend), that has a Highpoint RR620 that apparently is booting an SSD in his system (Highpoint officially claims it's not bootable in a MP either, so we don't know why it's working yet).
So I ended up canceling my order for the Areca 1880i RAID card. I rushed into the decision without thinking about what I needed long term. I need some more help. I've listed what I need below for my long term solution.
1. The RAID card needs to be used for 8 internal drives (4 SSD's in the optical bays {2 drives in each bay} and 4 mechanical drives in the other bays) And I will also need the RAID card to hook up to one external enclosure that holds 4 mechanical drives. 12 drives total, 8 internal, 4 external in one enclosure. So the RAID card needs to have external and internal ports. Which 1880 card would be best for this set up?
2. The external enclosure would only need to use one external eSATA port on the card, right? And if I needed to boot from the external enclosure, would I be able to do that from the RAID card? Or would I need to use a FW connection on my MacPro?
3. For the 4 internal SSD's, and 4 internal mechanical HD's I'd need to buy two of these kits, SZ-MACPRO10-MS06. I say two since one kit seems to only support four drives.
Is all this correct? Thanks again for all your help I'm slowly learning.
I've listed what I need below for my long term solution.1. The RAID card needs to be used for 8 internal drives (4 SSD's in the optical bays {2 drives in each bay} and 4 mechanical drives in the other bays) And I will also need the RAID card to hook up to one external enclosure that holds 4 mechanical drives. 12 drives total, 8 internal, 4 external in one enclosure. So the RAID card needs to have external and internal ports. Which 1880 card would be best for this set up?
2. The external enclosure would only need to use one external eSATA port on the card, right? And if I needed to boot from the external enclosure, would I be able to do that from the RAID card? Or would I need to use a FW connection on my MacPro?
3. For the 4 internal SSD's, and 4 internal mechanical HD's I'd need to buy two of these kits, SZ-MACPRO10-MS06. I say two since one kit seems to only support four drives.
Is all this correct? Thanks again for all your help
I'm slowly learning.Question: Will 12x ports be enough for the future?
I ask, as it's cheaper and easier to add drives than have to replace them every time you out-grow your existing capacity.
So you need to think about your capacity consumption (i.e. how many GB/month, year, ...), and plan for 3 years before you'd need to upgrade your equipment (other than drives = card and/or external enclosure/s).
As a general rule, I suggest getting an additional 4x ports (16x port card in your case), but if your capacity growth is high, you'll out-grow your equipment quickly, which is expensive.
Not that big a deal if you're making enough income with this system to cover it, but you'll need to plan properly. I suggest considering an account for future equipment expenditures, and save accordingly so the funds are there when you need them (so you're not caught with your proverbial "pants down" and no lube when Bubba comes calling
).Assuming a 16x card will be sufficient, the ARC-1880ix-16 is the 16 port version. Past that, is the ARC-1880ix-24.
If you notice, both of these versions have an external MiniSAS port (SFF-8088). Now you need to be careful, as that connector may be sharing ports with one of the internal connectors (each chip handles 12x ports), so this will be the case with the 24 port version (can cause a performance penalty). It may not with the 16 port model, so read the manuals carefully (if not there, contact Areca, as they'll be able to tell you which port is affected).
Now if you need more than 4x disks externally, you'll need to be able to use internal connectors (possible via a special cable; here). This cable operates 4x disks (1:1 mode). So you may need more than 1.
Run it/them through an open PCI bracket on an empty slot (keep you from having to make any modifications to the case ; aka big holes).
Please read on about the enclosure, as there's a nice surprise.
As per these cards, you can actually run 128 disks off of it using something called a SAS expander (like a PM chip, but works with SAS disks and RAID cards). You don't need this, so I've not linked any. But it gives you an idea as to how powerful and flexible these cards really are.
The Arecas do not use eSATA. They use something called MiniSAS (external MiniSAS = SFF-8088). Link is so you know what it looks like.
Here's a good 4 bay enclosure that offers a great price/performance ratio. It even comes with an external cable (SFF-8088 to SFF-8088). Like Areca, this increases the cost/performance ratio.
Sans Digital also makes an 8 bay version if you decide you want to go that route.So worst case, if you do get the 8 bay version, you'll be able to use 1x cable that comes with it, and an internal to external cable I linked above for the other port (4x disks).
Please note, that if you're going to be using SATA disks, you must keep the total cable length between the card and drives to 1.0 meters. Anything longer, and it's unstable = drop-outs like crazy (you could loose your mind over this, so don't go over). Applies to internal ports too, but those aren't going to be an issue.
Fortunately, NO.
Now I say fortunately, because the MaxUpgrade kit linked is only for the HDD bays, and there are cheaper alternatives for the SSD's in a single optical bay.
What you want is a 4 bay 2.5" backplane enclosure that fits in a 5.25" drive bay, such as this puppy right here.
Now you'll need to use an internal MiniSAS fanout cable (card end = SFF-8087 and it splits out to 4x SATA/SAS ends for the disks; example for illustrative purposes), which will come with the Areca (part of the reason they're such great values) between the card and backplane enclosure. This takes care of the DATA side of your connections.
Now for power... Just get a SATA Male to Molex Male cable (here; there are other ways to do it by using 2x cables if you can't get this one for whatever reason). Connect the SATA end to the backplane cable that's located in the empty optical bay (contains both power + data; power = longer pin portion). Then connect the Molex end to the backplane enclosure, and the drives get juice.
Pretty easy, and cheap too.
Wow Nanofrog, you're the man. Great info!!! OK, here's the deal ...
Connecting 12 drives would definitely be my 3-4 year future proof option, so I think the 16 or 24 port cards would be overkill. Although, the 16 port is not that much more, about $100 but thats $100 that will need to go to the drives. And honestly the 8 port may even be an option because the external enclosure could always hook up to a basic eSATA card and not be apart of the RAID set up. I will only use the external for backup. But it would be smart to have the option to hook the external enclosure up to the card. But the cost is obviously better on the 8-port card. Its between the 8-port and 12-port.
My options for an 8-port card are ...
ARC-1880LP-8 or the
ARC-1880i-8 The LP has two external connections and the other looks like it has one, so both could hook up to the external enclosure you posted via miniSAS.
The 12 port card would be the ARC-1880ix-12. It also has two external connectors, what are both of those connectors for exactly?
I LOVE the 4 bay backplane enclosure, freaking awesome, and affordable! The internal miniSAS fanout cable plugs into the card and the other end has four SATA/SAS connectors that will connect to each SSD. Then I only need the SATA Male to Molex Male cable, which will power all four drives! And you said the miniSAS fanout cable comes with the Areca card so the only thing I'd need to buy is the enclosure and the power cable!
Some Questions...
1. One of the four SSD's that will go in the 4 bay backplane enclosure is going to be my boot drive, the other three will probably be in a RAID 0. That wont be an issue will it?
2. The 12 port appears to only have the one option. Which of those 8 port cards would be the better choice?
3. Just to be sure, either of the 8 port cards or the 12 port card will be able to connect to the external enclosure you posted via miniSAS, and I will be able to boot from the external enclosure if needed, right?
4. This may be a dumb question, but I dont see how 8 or 12 drives can connect to either of those cards? I'd expect to see 8 or 12 different connectors on the card that you plug the SATA or other cable into that then plugs into the drives. Although, I understand that the miniSAS cable plugs into the card, and then fans out to connect to four drives. So do the other four drives also use a cable that has one end that goes into the card and the other end fans out to four drives? The tech behind this stuff is hard for me to wrap my head around.
5. And I realized that I probably may never need the more advanced RAID solutions that a RAID card can provide (like RAID 5), so would a regular Host adapter card that can supply 8 or 12 drives be cheaper? Is the performance the same and would I be able to boot from it? I know you mentioned the ATTO one before but someone else mentioned that they had issues with booting with it. I'd prefer to stick with a reliable boot solution, which I assume is Areca.
6. If I were to get the 8 port card, and had 8 internal drives hooked up to it (4 SSD's, 4 HD's) I could still hook up the external enclosure to it just to do a nightly backup, right? I usually never use my computer when I have an external enclosure hooked up to it backing up my data, I set it up and walk out of my office. So the bandwidth being shared between the internal drives and external drives would not be an issue for that. Or would I absolutely need the 12 port if I wanted to hook up 12 drives. Its jsut that I'd rarely need to use all 12 drives at once, the 4 external drives would only be used for nightly backups once I turn in for the day.
I think thats it, for now Geez, you're going to have to send me a bill for all this valuable info you've been giving me
Connecting 12 drives would definitely be my 3-4 year future proof option, so I think the 16 or 24 port cards would be overkill. Although, the 16 port is not that much more, about $100 but thats $100 that will need to go to the drives. And honestly the 8 port may even be an option because the external enclosure could always hook up to a basic eSATA card and not be apart of the RAID set up. I will only use the external for backup. But it would be smart to have the option to hook the external enclosure up to the card. But the cost is obviously better on the 8-port card. Its between the 8-port and 12-port.
My options for an 8-port card are ...
ARC-1880LP-8 or the
ARC-1880i-8 The LP has two external connections and the other looks like it has one, so both could hook up to the external enclosure you posted via miniSAS.
The 12 port card would be the ARC-1880ix-12. It also has two external connectors, what are both of those connectors for exactly?
I LOVE the 4 bay backplane enclosure, freaking awesome, and affordable! The internal miniSAS fanout cable plugs into the card and the other end has four SATA/SAS connectors that will connect to each SSD. Then I only need the SATA Male to Molex Male cable, which will power all four drives! And you said the miniSAS fanout cable comes with the Areca card so the only thing I'd need to buy is the enclosure and the power cable!
Some Questions...
1. One of the four SSD's that will go in the 4 bay backplane enclosure is going to be my boot drive, the other three will probably be in a RAID 0. That wont be an issue will it?
2. The 12 port appears to only have the one option. Which of those 8 port cards would be the better choice?
3. Just to be sure, either of the 8 port cards or the 12 port card will be able to connect to the external enclosure you posted via miniSAS, and I will be able to boot from the external enclosure if needed, right?
4. This may be a dumb question, but I dont see how 8 or 12 drives can connect to either of those cards? I'd expect to see 8 or 12 different connectors on the card that you plug the SATA or other cable into that then plugs into the drives. Although, I understand that the miniSAS cable plugs into the card, and then fans out to connect to four drives. So do the other four drives also use a cable that has one end that goes into the card and the other end fans out to four drives? The tech behind this stuff is hard for me to wrap my head around.
5. And I realized that I probably may never need the more advanced RAID solutions that a RAID card can provide (like RAID 5), so would a regular Host adapter card that can supply 8 or 12 drives be cheaper? Is the performance the same and would I be able to boot from it? I know you mentioned the ATTO one before but someone else mentioned that they had issues with booting with it. I'd prefer to stick with a reliable boot solution, which I assume is Areca.
6. If I were to get the 8 port card, and had 8 internal drives hooked up to it (4 SSD's, 4 HD's) I could still hook up the external enclosure to it just to do a nightly backup, right? I usually never use my computer when I have an external enclosure hooked up to it backing up my data, I set it up and walk out of my office. So the bandwidth being shared between the internal drives and external drives would not be an issue for that. Or would I absolutely need the 12 port if I wanted to hook up 12 drives. Its jsut that I'd rarely need to use all 12 drives at once, the 4 external drives would only be used for nightly backups once I turn in for the day.
I think thats it, for now
Geez, you're going to have to send me a bill for all this valuable info you've been giving me Ah, OK. You'd be better off keeping the backup separate from the RAID card as a means of saving money. An eSATA card + eSATA PM enclosure + consumer grade disks (i.e. Greens are great for backup, fast enough, and cheapest cost/GB out there) will be sufficient, and a hell of a lot cheaper. Example kit (card + enclosure + cable). This one works well in the MP (a few others use it or it's larger sibling).
In terms of the card, the additional $100 is worth it, as you can move it from system to system without having to replace it as quickly due to out-growing it. Saves money in the long term. But this applies to any card of sufficient size for your needs. By getting backup off of the RAID card, you won't need a 16 port version.
Please understand, I'm not sure what you mean by eSATA... Do you mean a 1: (1 disk to 1 port)?
Or do you mean a Port Multiplier enclosure (1 port, up to 5x disks on it; so an 8 or 10 bay PM box will have 2x eSATA ports on the back)? See the PM kit I linked to see what this actually is.
There are eSATA enclosures with 1:1 (4 bay box with 4x eSATA ports on the back), but they're getting harder to find, aren't faster, or cheaper than the MiniSAS boxes (they used to be, but MiniSAS versions have increased in number, so the prices have fallen = what everyone uses). Better connectors too, which makes a difference (remember, this stuff needs to be reliable so the latches keep you from accidentally yanking the cable out of the back and have better signal integrity vs. eSATA for RAID).
Trust me, there were valid reasons for abandoning eSATA (just needed to get MiniSAS's costs down due to increased economy of scale).
The ARC-1880LP is the only one with an external MiniSAS connector on it (one port internal, one port external = hybrid, and can be very useful - tend to be expensive).
The second port you're seeing (only one on the ARC-1880i) are Ethernet ports (remote, email notification, and NTP access). All of the 1880 series have this one (so do their other most powerful cards, such as the 1680, or 12xxML's).
Now I'm wondering what you're disks are actually going to be, as you previously indicated there will be 8x disks internally. I presume this is still the case, as a pure SSD solution is insanely expensive due to the cost/GB.
But this also means that you'd need 8x internal ports, and have nothing to spare if you use either of the 8 port cards (internal only would be the right solution in this case).
So to get 8 ports used internally, and still have another 4x ports for growth (internal or external), I'd go with the ARC-1880ix-12 (12 port model).
Assuming you still intend on using 8x disks internally, this is the best card to get (4x SSD + 4x HDD's internally, and still have 4 ports internally or externally for growth).
Exactly.
If the OS is OS X only, then No problems.
You will need to flash the card with the EBC firmware though, before it will work (need that to make it bootable in the MP).
Where you could run into a problem, is with Windows. It would need to be attached to the ICH in order to boot.
But this can be solved with cables (need some DIY skills, which aren't difficult).
You should be able to use a SATA Data Extension cable (would require shaving the sides of both the power cable as well as the data SATA cable to allow both to fit the backplane connector in the empty optical bay. Some have done this successfully, though they said it was difficult (would need to find some with a thin profile).
Should be clean, and easy enough to do. Not sure how much plastic you'll need to shave though (not at all if you're lucky, but I wouldn't bet on it).
Not sure what you're getting at. It will do the job quite well, and is the best choice for leaving yourself some room to grow.
- ARC-1880LP = Yes for external enclosure, Yes on external boot (don't forget flash)
- ARC-1880i = No on external enclosure, so No on external boot (port = Ethernet, not SFF-8088)
- ARC-1880ix-12 = Yes and Yes.
Yes. SFF-8087 = 4 ports on one cable. SFF-8088 does the same thing.
Internally, you use a fan-out cable to split it off if most of the time (there are servers that have backplanes internally, and uses a different cable). Externally, the signals are split inside the enclosure to the backplane board and goes to each drive.
So every one of those cable ends attached to the RAID card carries 4x ports simultaneously.
The Arecas are the way to go ATM.
Of what you're asking about, ATTO is the only option right now (Areca makes these products too, but don't have 6.0Gb/s internals last I checked). The one's they have out I'm familiar with are 3.0Gb/s (1300 series non-RAID HBA).
Well, at least this answers the fact you're still going to run 4x SSD's + 4x HDD's.
If you do this, you'd only be able to use the ARC-1880LP.
However, the smart thing to do to save money, is use eSATA + PM enclosure as your backup hardware. Save a ton of money on consumer disks vs. enterprise (which you'd have to use on the RAID card).
As per a card, given you are trying to use 8x disks immediately, I'd recommend the ARC-1880ix-12. You'll thank me later. Trust me, as once you get RAID and large capacities going, you'll burn through it faster than you think. Seen this too many times.
You don't swap things around on a RAID card. Plug it all up, configure it, and leave it alone. It's not a consumer product, so please don't try to use it that way. You'll get burnt if you do (life happens, and sets could be lost, instability result due to poor contact on cables that have been inserted/removed too many times, ...).
Another note, do not try to use Safari to manage the card. The flash will never take, and leave you scratching your head as to why it won't boot. Use FireFox instead (works for management on the MP).
Wait 'till you see the bill .... MuhahahahI think thats it, for now
Can you throw these hours you're spending on my tab ... I'll pay it someday, I swear
For the external enclosure, I'll definitely go with an eSATA enclosure + eSATA card + consumer disks, keeping it off the RAID card. When I say eSATA, I simply mean the enclosure connects to my mac pro via an eSATA card and cable. I was looking at this one., but the Sans Digital is much cheaper and includes the controller card. Both of those enclosures use one eSATA cable that plugs into the controller card on the MP, and then the other end plugs into the enclosure (which then splits into four cables to get to each drive) Both the Sans Digital and OWC enclosure only support SATA 2 drives though, not that it matters much though because I dont need a lot of speed for my nightly external backup. This is the last item I'll need to buy, so maybe in 4-6 months there will be an enclosure that supports SATA 3 drives for the same price. I just prefer to get the latest tech when I spend money, or at least closest to the latest tech as possible.
For the RAID card ... I keep thinking the 8 port card is best because I wont hook the external backup to it, so I would only need an 8-port card, and at first I only need it for the four SSD's. Within the next 6-12 months I'll be hooking it up to the other 4 mechanical drives in the bays (once I buy enterprise grade drives, I'm starting with the SSD's first) and that would last me 3-5 years. And yes, the plan is for four SSD's and four mechanical drives. All internal. I was wrong about the price difference between the 8 and 12 port, its actually $200. And I cant see myself needing to hook up more than 8 internal drives since my backup system will not use the RAID card. So I'd be better off saving the $200.
Areca makes three 8-port cards that offer 6Gb/s, the 1880i, the 1880LP and the 1880ixl.
Out of those three, it seems the 1880i is my best option. Here's why, the LP seems to only support four internal drives and four external drives. I need all 8 drives to be internal. I only see one internal port on the LP, and one external port here is the picture. The 1880ixl is just too much money. The 1880i can support my 8 internal drives and is only $550, it will give me the same speed and performance as the other two.
If I'm correct about the above (please tell me I am), then the 1880i is what I should go with. I'd need to buy the 4 bay enclosure, plus the Molex power cable, and the miniSAS fanout cable which comes with the card. All of that is for the four SSD's in the optical Bay.
Then I'd need to buy the SZ-MACPRO10-MS06 for the four mechanical drives in the four bays. And that would be all I need to buy to hook up my 8 internal drives to the RAID card, besides the drives of course Let me know if that's correct.
Now for the hard drives. I wont need to buy the four mechanical drives for about 6 months, so Im hoping that a 3TB enterprise drive will make the compatibility list. Right now the Hitachi 3TB enterprise drive is scheduled for testing, hoping it will pass. If not I'll pick another off the list. My bigger concern is the SSD's. I want to get the OWC RE 6G's but I cant tell if they are supported. The HDD list only looks like it covers mechanical drives. Does it have SSD's on that list, if so, how can you tell which ones are SSD's. I hope it has some SATA 3 SSD's that work with it.
Again, thanks so much for your time. I'm so close, it appears all I need to do is decide which SSD to get, hoping I can get the OWC ones.
For the external enclosure, I'll definitely go with an eSATA enclosure + eSATA card + consumer disks, keeping it off the RAID card. When I say eSATA, I simply mean the enclosure connects to my mac pro via an eSATA card and cable. I was looking at this one., but the Sans Digital is much cheaper and includes the controller card. Both of those enclosures use one eSATA cable that plugs into the controller card on the MP, and then the other end plugs into the enclosure (which then splits into four cables to get to each drive) Both the Sans Digital and OWC enclosure only support SATA 2 drives though, not that it matters much though because I dont need a lot of speed for my nightly external backup. This is the last item I'll need to buy, so maybe in 4-6 months there will be an enclosure that supports SATA 3 drives for the same price. I just prefer to get the latest tech when I spend money, or at least closest to the latest tech as possible.
For the RAID card ... I keep thinking the 8 port card is best because I wont hook the external backup to it, so I would only need an 8-port card, and at first I only need it for the four SSD's. Within the next 6-12 months I'll be hooking it up to the other 4 mechanical drives in the bays (once I buy enterprise grade drives, I'm starting with the SSD's first) and that would last me 3-5 years. And yes, the plan is for four SSD's and four mechanical drives. All internal. I was wrong about the price difference between the 8 and 12 port, its actually $200. And I cant see myself needing to hook up more than 8 internal drives since my backup system will not use the RAID card. So I'd be better off saving the $200.
Areca makes three 8-port cards that offer 6Gb/s, the 1880i, the 1880LP and the 1880ixl.
Out of those three, it seems the 1880i is my best option. Here's why, the LP seems to only support four internal drives and four external drives. I need all 8 drives to be internal. I only see one internal port on the LP, and one external port here is the picture. The 1880ixl is just too much money. The 1880i can support my 8 internal drives and is only $550, it will give me the same speed and performance as the other two.
If I'm correct about the above (please tell me I am), then the 1880i is what I should go with. I'd need to buy the 4 bay enclosure, plus the Molex power cable, and the miniSAS fanout cable which comes with the card. All of that is for the four SSD's in the optical Bay.
Then I'd need to buy the SZ-MACPRO10-MS06 for the four mechanical drives in the four bays. And that would be all I need to buy to hook up my 8 internal drives to the RAID card, besides the drives of course
Let me know if that's correct.Now for the hard drives. I wont need to buy the four mechanical drives for about 6 months, so Im hoping that a 3TB enterprise drive will make the compatibility list. Right now the Hitachi 3TB enterprise drive is scheduled for testing, hoping it will pass. If not I'll pick another off the list. My bigger concern is the SSD's. I want to get the OWC RE 6G's but I cant tell if they are supported. The HDD list only looks like it covers mechanical drives. Does it have SSD's on that list, if so, how can you tell which ones are SSD's. I hope it has some SATA 3 SSD's that work with it.
Again, thanks so much for your time. I'm so close, it appears all I need to do is decide which SSD to get, hoping I can get the OWC ones.
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Either will work.
The difference between them, is the Qx2 has an RoC in it (RAID on a Chip, so it can do hardware RAID 5).
The Sans Digital is software controlled only by OS X (could do 0/1/10 or JBOD via Disk Utility). I'd recommend skipping RAID 0, and use JBOD (stripe sets have a lower reliability than a single disk, which is how JBOD comes out - just makes a single volume of the disks in the set).
If it will suffice for your needs as you indicate, then go for it.
My point was just to get you to think about it first, so you didn't make a long-term mistake.
If you're only after 8x internal ports, the ARC-1880i is the best card for cost/performance.
Correct. It has the best cost/performance for your specific situation.
Correct on all counts.
See? You are learning.
Correct. The kit comes with all of the cables you need (it even comes with a fan-out that has RT. angle ends for the disks so it will fit).Then I'd need to buy the SZ-MACPRO10-MS06 for the four mechanical drives in the four bays. And that would be all I need to buy to hook up my 8 internal drives to the RAID card, besides the drives of course
So you'll be left with a spare fan-out that comes with the Areca, as you'll only need to use 1x for the SSD configuration listed above (Areca's cables = straight SATA/SAS ends, but they also have locking tabs, which are a good thing).
Unfortunately, Areca doesn't test them out with consumer SSD's, as that's not what the card is expected to run (meant for large scale enterprise solutions, such as part of a SAN).
However, all the SSD's users have tried (not just MR users), do work. But they're also usually as single disk (Pass-Through) or in a stripe set (RAID 0). The recovery timings won't be a problem here. It's when you go to other levels that it becomes a problem with mechanical.
The OWC disks will work, but if you're not aware, it uses the Sandforce 1281 controller, which has problems. From what I understand however, is OWC's have the least amount of problems (vs. OCZ and Corsair), and claimed they created a solution with firmware revision 360.
If your still nervous about reliability however, I'd recommend Intel (510 series isn't cheap, but Intel has the best reliability for SSD's right now
).Up to you, as is all of it. No pressure or anything...
Woo Hoo! I am learning I guess
So would the regular OWC 6G's work with the card or would I have to get the enterprise versions of them? I'd love to save even more money by buying the regular OWC SSD's.
I'd be using one as boot so that would be pass through, then the other three will be RAID 0. Which you indicated will not have issues. Should I use the RAID card to set up the RAID 0 or use osx? I assume I should use the card but want to be sure.
The other thing I'd like to confirm is that I'll be getting top speeds with the OWC drives. OWC claims the reads and writes are just over 550 MB/s. Obviously those speeds were achieved with SATA 3 ports. With the Areca 1880i, my boot drive should be getting at least 500 MB/s reads/writes, and then the three SSD's in RAID 0 should be maxing out the MP bus speed, which I believe is over 700MB/s. Is this correct? Mac Performance guide said he achieved read speeds over 750 MB/s with three SSD's.
Also, would the 4 bay enclosure for my optical bay hinder the speeds of each SSD? Or is it simply used to hold all four drives, and the RAID card is what controls the bandwidth of each drive? Just making sure I'm getting top speeds of all four SSD's
So the only thing left is making sure the regular OWC SSD's work with the RAID card, it would save me some cash for sure.
I heard about that version of the SF controller having a high failure rate, but I haven't heard of any of them being from OWC. I currently own some of the 3G's and absolutely love them. So most likely I'll go with them, but I will look at the 510 series from Intel.
Again, thanks so much man, I don't know what I'd do without your info. Once I get all my stuff, and flash the card and set up the RAID 0 I'll post how it all went. WOO, IM STOKED!!!
So would the regular OWC 6G's work with the card or would I have to get the enterprise versions of them? I'd love to save even more money by buying the regular OWC SSD's.
I'd be using one as boot so that would be pass through, then the other three will be RAID 0. Which you indicated will not have issues. Should I use the RAID card to set up the RAID 0 or use osx? I assume I should use the card but want to be sure.
The other thing I'd like to confirm is that I'll be getting top speeds with the OWC drives. OWC claims the reads and writes are just over 550 MB/s. Obviously those speeds were achieved with SATA 3 ports. With the Areca 1880i, my boot drive should be getting at least 500 MB/s reads/writes, and then the three SSD's in RAID 0 should be maxing out the MP bus speed, which I believe is over 700MB/s. Is this correct? Mac Performance guide said he achieved read speeds over 750 MB/s with three SSD's.
Also, would the 4 bay enclosure for my optical bay hinder the speeds of each SSD? Or is it simply used to hold all four drives, and the RAID card is what controls the bandwidth of each drive? Just making sure I'm getting top speeds of all four SSD's
So the only thing left is making sure the regular OWC SSD's work with the RAID card, it would save me some cash for sure.
I heard about that version of the SF controller having a high failure rate, but I haven't heard of any of them being from OWC. I currently own some of the 3G's and absolutely love them. So most likely I'll go with them, but I will look at the 510 series from Intel.
Again, thanks so much man, I don't know what I'd do without your info. Once I get all my stuff, and flash the card and set up the RAID 0 I'll post how it all went. WOO, IM STOKED!!!
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You can use the regular versions. From what we've been able to tell, the RE versions only have a greater amount of over-provisioning (additional capacity unavailable to the user for wear leveling; 28% for the RE's vs. 7% for the consumer versions). It just increases the lifespan for identical usage (more attractive for parity based levels, which puts a lot more writes to a disk due to data + parity writes to add new data).
RAID card.
Assuming the data they're presenting is correct, you should. But in general, there have been issues before with what manufacturers claim, and what they can actually do.
I'd recommend searching for independent confirmation of those figures (reviews from users and tech sites).
Now as per what a stripe set of 3x disks will do, it's ~3x (3 disk set) of what one of those disks is capable of (single disk mode).
There have been issues with the ICH not being able to do this, even if the bandwidth isn't saturated/exceeded. But this sort of thing isn't common on RAID cards that have sufficient speed. As it happens, this is the fastest 6.0Gb/s brand/series last I checked.
Speed will be unaffected by the enclosure, as it uses a 1:1 port to drive ratio (no switching involved by either a PM or SAS Expander chip).Also, would the 4 bay enclosure for my optical bay hinder the speeds of each SSD? Or is it simply used to hold all four drives, and the RAID card is what controls the bandwidth of each drive? Just making sure I'm getting top speeds of all four SSD's
Thus each disk has max bandwidth per.
From what I've seen, the consumer versions (Pro series), will work with those cards (other users have already done this IIRC, and I know other SF based disks are working with them as well, such as the Corsairs <can find most of this on PC systems, but as the disks are operated by the card and not the OS, it's entirely relevant for Macs as well>).
Good luck, and don't drool too much when you see the speeds...
You could end up in a hospital due to dehydration, or worse, damage your gear due to electrical shorts!
Totally awesome man, I'm ready to pull the trigger then. Areca 1880i, OWC SSD's and the 4 bay enclosure with Molex cable to start.
When I get all of it in my office, I'll install it and keep my current SSD in the upper optical bay. It has the OS on it anyway so it would have to stay there during setup. I'll start up my system, make sure the RAID card works as well as the SSD's. Then I'll flash the RAID card per your instructions to make sure its bootable. I'll then clone my current SSD to my new Boot SSD, and also make my RAID 0 out of the other three drives.
Hoping all that sounds good. Is there any reason why I would need to flash the RAID card before I hook any of the drives up to it? Should I install the RAID card first by itself, then flash it, then hook up the drives to it, then clone and finally set up the RAID 0?
When I get all of it in my office, I'll install it and keep my current SSD in the upper optical bay. It has the OS on it anyway so it would have to stay there during setup. I'll start up my system, make sure the RAID card works as well as the SSD's. Then I'll flash the RAID card per your instructions to make sure its bootable. I'll then clone my current SSD to my new Boot SSD, and also make my RAID 0 out of the other three drives.
Hoping all that sounds good. Is there any reason why I would need to flash the RAID card before I hook any of the drives up to it? Should I install the RAID card first by itself, then flash it, then hook up the drives to it, then clone and finally set up the RAID 0?
Correct.
Yes.
We can get to the details (procedure) later if need be.
No, but you will need to flash it before you try to boot off of it. Again, we can get into procedures later if you're not sure of what order to go in.